


Parley

by DrowningByDegrees



Series: MCU by request [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, M/M, response to a prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9347477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningByDegrees/pseuds/DrowningByDegrees
Summary: My answer to a fic request from an anon on Tumblr. It was written for this prompt: Would you write something modern day assuming pre-war Stucky was a thing and that Natasha and Bucky were involved during the Red Room? Maybe them having to come to grips after they recover him or Bucky having to choose or something.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [an anon on my Tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=an+anon+on+my+Tumblr).



 

“Are you sure about this? You look a little green,” Natasha prodded gently, poking her head out the doorway to make sure Bucky hadn’t followed them into the kitchen. He was staring at the television though, attention consumed by movie previews. That was something at least.

 

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Steve insisted, unwrapping a popcorn bag to toss it in the microwave. “I just hope we’re not going about this all wrong.”

 

Natasha hummed in understanding as she pulled glasses from the cabinet. It was maybe a little bit questionable. Bucky remembered everything, as far as she could tell, but maybe Steve would know better. Surely, if there were still gaps, he’d have told her. Natasha didn’t look at Steve, instead focusing entirely on opening the freezer to fish out ice cubes. “You and I both know what happens if we don’t do anything. He’s practically paralyzed.”

 

“I know. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes,” Steve murmured, stepping close to Natasha as the corn popped, so as to keep his voice low. “It’s just that it could be simple. I’ve _seen_ the way he looks at you. I don’t begin to know what happened, but he obviously loves you, Nat.”

 

“He loved you first, the way I hear it,” Natasha replied mildly. A rare smile curled on her lips. “Pretty sure he still does.”

 

Steve frowned deeply. “Do we really have a right to make this choice for him? He hasn’t exactly had much agency. He should be making his own call here.”

 

“Steve, you’ve _seen_ what this situation is doing to him. If he hasn’t done something, it’s more likely to protect our feelings than his own.” Natasha poured soda over the ice, watching the foam bubbles pop and dissipate.

 

“I just don’t want to push him in a direction that isn’t where he wants to go. He deserves better than that from us,” Steve insisted.

 

Natasha listened to him, thinking maybe she understood a little of what Bucky saw in him. He was unwaveringly principled, and even if it made her want to throttle him at the moment, it was just a bit endearing. She could work with principled, appealing to reason. “Alright. In _recent_ history, have you known James to do anything he specifically didn’t want to?”

 

She already knew the answer. The more Bucky recovered, the more adamantly he stuck to his guns. Maybe it was a constant rebellion against the years of programming, but despite the way his damage left him quieter and more somber, he’d relearned very well how to say no. Steve shook his head, and that was good. She’d expected nothing else. “Then there’s no reason to think he won’t tell us if this runs counter to what he wants. We’re not making a decision for him, Steve. We’re just giving him an alternative to being alone.”

 

The popping in the microwave slowed down, and in lieu of a response, Steve pulled it free and set about dumping it in a bowl for easier sharing. He wasn’t arguing anymore, so whatever misgivings he had about this must have been eased for the moment. Natasha waited for him, balancing the three glasses in her hands. When he piped up again, she expected another protest, but Steve only asked her, “Are you sure _you’re_ okay with this?”

 

“So, is questioning people’s ability to make decisions just something that applies to everyone, then?” Natasha teased. It was sweet that he worried, but on at least this, she was certain their priorities were aligned. Both of them wanted what was best for Bucky, no matter the personal cost. “Let’s be honest. I was never going to do the picket fence and two point five kids deal, anyway.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The room was dark, except for the TV, the movie title screen playing the same series of teaser clips over and over again. Bucky was already bored of it, fidgeting where he sat in the middle of the couch. The past, _his_ past, had mostly come back to him, but he still had a great deal to catch up on, and the two people he spent the most time with were putting a significant damper on that at the moment.

 

He was just about to get up and find out what the hold up was when he heard Steve’s footsteps. They weren’t as heavy as one might expect, just steady and insistent. Natasha’s were lighter and a little faster usually. The smell of popcorn was a welcome distraction, and he was quick to take the bowl when Steve offered it. “It’s about time. I was almost ready to start the movie without you.”

 

“Yes, well…” Whatever Steve meant to say, it never got out. That was weird. Steve was usually so sure of whatever he was thinking, even if it was as unimportant as a movie. Bucky could barely even remember the last time he’d seen Steve clam up.  He’d been an awful lot smaller then, all bluster and righteous fury.

 

Bucky was so caught up in the memory, he hardly had time to realize what was happening. Steve plunked down beside him so… close, it was unnerving, though not unwelcome. Decades lost had done nothing to dull how much the weight of Steve’s body next to his just felt like home. If not for the other life he’d led, he could easily have fallen right back into this. The two of them in each other’s corners, just the way it had always been.

 

But there _was_ another life. Even though he could sort out which life was which, it still felt like two people lived in his head, because the Bucky who loved Steve hadn’t ever wanted anyone else, and the one who’d loved Natasha never knew Steve even existed. _Natasha_. She was in the room too, and she didn’t even seem to notice Steve’s proximity, but that couldn’t be right because he knew her and she noticed _everything_. The last thing Bucky wanted was to hurt the woman he loved. It just wasn’t fair. He swallowed a lump in his throat, preparing to pull away from Steve as she set the drinks on the coffee table.

 

Only, then she was sitting down too, giving him no room to create any distance between Steve and himself. She was curled up on the cushion, nestled against his side like she just fit there. It was welcome and confusing in equal parts, and despite Steve’s presence, some part of him just wanted to curl around her and breathe her in, movie be damned. The other part ached because making a choice felt an awful lot like trying to decide which lung he wanted to give up.

 

It was Natasha who upped the ante, and for a minute, Bucky’d heart wobbled and threatened to shatter. Were they trying to prod him into making a decision? He couldn’t blame them, but he’d been so careful not to lead anyone one, solely so he could avoid reaching this crossroads. Shutting either of them out felt more awful than accepting he could have neither one of them, and so the way Natasha deftly slipped an arm around him filled Bucky with equal parts comfort and dread.

 

A funny thing happened after that. Steve did the same. Both of them clearly knew what the other was doing. He knew both of them well enough to generally catch on if someone was upset, but neither of them was. They were just there, arms resting against each other, draped across his torso.

 

 _Oh_. Oh, that was an entirely different kind of complicated. It was something he hadn’t even allowed himself to consider because didn’t whichever one of them deserve all of him? Steve and Natasha seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil though, each a solid, affectionate presence beside him.

 

He was still trying to wrap his head around what was going on when Natasha spoke up. “What happened to being ready to start the movie?”


End file.
